AP® teachers know the roots of AP® success are established in the earlier grades. That is the idea behind Advanced Language & Literature—a complete solution for 10th grade honors and Pre-AP® English classes. Driven by the expertise of Renee Shea, John Golden, and Lance Balla, this introduction to literature and nonfiction, reading and writing, analysis and argument, is both challenging and nurturing; a book full of big ideas, thought-provoking texts, and all of the support young minds need to be prepared for AP® success.

Features

In-Depth Skill Development

Skills like close reading, rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis need careful development and constant reinforcement into academic habits of mind. In Advanced Language & Literature, these concepts are introduced through straightforward, thoroughly scaffolded lessons in the opening chapters, and then deepened through Reading and Writing Workshops in each thematic chapter. The skill-building questions following each reading give students a chance to hone and demonstrate their skills, while formative and summative assessments in the teacher materials help you guide students from practice to mastery.

Engaging Texts in Conversation

Renee Shea, John Golden, and Lance Balla believe that big ideas are the heart and soul of every good English class. The resulting textbook’s thematic organization allows students to think critically about enduring questions and tackle essential issues. Each thematic chapter is built around a provocative Central Text by a world-renowned author, which is followed by two clusters of texts—one on a literary theme and one on an argument topic. These text clusters include pieces at various reading levels for easy differentiation while keeping all students engaged in the same conversation, juggling multiple ideas, and reconciling diverse perspectives

New to This Edition

This book takes care of just about everything. I think it is a rich resource and it will provide a ready-made curriculum for the course. It organizes and illustrates a broad array of texts and focuses on skills and habits of mind.
-Claudette Brassil, Mt. Ararat High School, ME

When I read this, it's as through I'm looking at an ideal way of thinking about the way to choose balanced selections for any unit. There is a balance of classic to contemporary pieces, a balance of voices, and certainly the inclusion of all the visual pieces, as well as the speeches and non-fiction make this a prize!
-Sarah Brown Wessling, Johnston HS, IA

The text offers a harmonious balance between objectives of the two APⓇ courses. The range of fresh material is outstanding, and I think APⓇ teachers will be happy to see the level of sophistication in both text and skills that the Pre-APⓇ students will experience.
-Ann Jackson, Crosby HS, TX

Comprehensive, thoughtful, challenging, but with an eye toward engaging students through relevant themes and readings.
-Debbie Harrison, Kimberly HS, WI

I'm impressed with the depth and quality of the text. It's not easy to provide work for Pre-APⓇ English students at the 10th grade that is challenging as well as interesting. The topics covered are of interest to this age group. Also, the book balances between preparing students for both APⓇ Lang and APⓇ Lit, a difficult balancing act.
-Christine Palmer, Air Academy HS, CO

The most compelling part of the book is the balance: classic and contemporary selections included, many world cultures represented, APⓇ Language and APⓇ Literature supported, and reading and writing strategies.
-Elizabeth Davis, Westwood HS, TX

I thought that the themes would be something that I would not use, but I take it back after seeing the actual readings. I think that I would use the whole book.
-Theresa Neman, Oak Ridge HS, TX

Because I am a huge proponent of inquiry-based instruction, I would say this book's biggest strength is that it incorporates this method of learning. A second strength would be that this book uses both familiar and new texts and authors to balance the skills between addressing needs for both literature and language. I especially like that these skills are grouped in the two conversations, preceded and followed by the Reader and Writer's Workshops. Brilliant structure!
-Tracy Scholz, Alief ISD, TX

The materials are varied, and world literature is well-covered. The authors have considered what students will need to be prepared for APⓇ Lit/Lang classes. There is a good selection of non-fiction, as well as fiction and poetry.
-Penny Crofford, Ernest Childers MS, OK

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Advanced Language & Literature

Renee H. Shea; John Golden; Lance Balla

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Advanced Language & Literature

First Edition 2016

Renee H. Shea; John Golden; Lance Balla

1 – Reading the World

2 – Thinking about Literature

3 – Thinking about Rhetoric and Argument

4 – Thinking about Synthesis

5 – Identity and Society
What does "identity" mean? ● How is one’s identity formed? ● How do personal experiences affect our identity? ● To what extent does school emphasize conformity at the expense of individuality?

Central Text

George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (nonfiction)

Conversation:

Changes and Transformations

Jon Krakauer, The Devil’s Thumb (nonfiction)

Caitlin Horrocks, Zolaria (fiction)

Sharon Olds, My Son The Man and The Possessive (poetry)

William Shakespeare, Seven Ages of Man (poetry/drama)

James Joyce, Eveline (fiction)

Conversation:

The Individual in School

Alexandra Robbins, from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (nonfiction)

Faith Erin Hicks, from Friends with Boys (graphic novel)

John Taylor Gatto, Against School (nonfiction)

Horace Mann, from The Common School Journal (nonfiction)

Theodore Sizer, from Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School (nonfiction)

Maya Angelou, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (memoir)

The Carlisle Indian Boarding School (photographs)

Reading Workshop – Point of View in Narrative

Writing Workshop – Writing a Narrative

　
6 – Ambition and Restraint
What drives individuals to succeed? ● What are the benefits and dangers associated with ambition? ● Is ambition an innate or learned human trait? ● What causes people to rebel? ● Is violent resistance ever justified? ● How do speakers inspire others to act?

Central Text

William Shakespeare, Macbeth (drama)

Conversation:

Risk and Reward

W.H. Auden, Musee des Beaux Arts (poetry)

William Carlos Williams, Landscape with The Fall of Icarus (poetry)

Brian Aldiss, Flight 063 (poetry)

Jeffrey Kluger, from Ambition: Why Some people Are Most Likely to Succeed (nonfiction)

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias (poetry)

William Shakespeare, Cardinal Wolsey’s Speech from Henry VIII (drama)

Amy Tan, Rules of the Game (fiction)

Miguel Cervantes, from Don Quixote (fiction)

Conversation:

Voices of Rebellion

Martin Luther King Jr., I’ve Been to the Mountaintop (speech)

Nelson Mandela, from An Ideal for Which I am Prepared to Die (speech)

Thomas Paine, from Common Sense (broadside)

Malala Yousafzai, Speech to the United Nations Youth Assembly

Carrie Chapman Catt, Address to the Congress on Women’s Suffrage

George Orwell, from Animal Farm (fiction)

　
Reading Workshop – Analyzing Figurative Language

Writing Workshop – Writing a Persuasive Argument

7 – Ethics
● How do we tell "right" from "wrong"? ● Can there be a universal understanding of what is "right" or "wrong"? ● To what extent do age, culture, and other factors affect our ethical decisions? ● When making ethical decisions, whose needs should be most important? The individual’s, other people’s, the larger society’s? ● What causes us to cheat? Is cheating always wrong? Who gets to define "cheating"?

Central Text

Michael Sandel, from The Case Against Perfection (nonfiction)

Conversation:

Do the Right Thing

Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (fiction)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Cell One (fiction)

Nathan Englander, Free Fruit for Young Widows (fiction)

John Updike, A & P (fiction)

William Stafford, Traveling Through the Dark (poetry)

Wisława Szymborska, A Contribution to Statistics (poetry)

Annie Dillard, An American Childhood (memoir)

Sam Harris, from Lying (nonfiction)

Conversation:

The Cheating Culture

Robert Kolker, Cheating Upwards (nonfiction)

Chuck Klosterman, Why We Look the Other Way (nonfiction)

Christopher Bergland, Cheaters Never Win (nonfiction)

Brad Allenby, Is Human Enhancement Cheating? (nonfiction)

Mia Consalvo, Cheating is Good For You (nonfiction)

David Callahan, from The Cheating Culture (nonfiction)

The Ethics of Photo Manipulation (photographs)

Reading Workshop – Argument by Analogy

Writing Workshop – Writing a Synthesis Essay

　
8 – Cultures in Conflict
What defines "culture"? ● How does someone become part of or leave a culture? ● What causes cultures to come in conflict with each other? ● Who gets to tell the story of a conflict? ● How do cultures respond to change and to outsiders? ● What is lost and gained by assimilation into a new culture?

Central Text

Julie Otsuka, from When the Emperor Was Divine (fiction)

Conversation:

Stories of War

Kamila Shamsie, from The Storytellers of Empire (nonfiction)

Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est (poetry)

William Shakespeare, St. Crispin’s Day Speech (drama)

Vu Bao, The Man Who Stained his Soul (fiction)

Katey Schultz, Deuce Out (fiction)

Kevin Sites, from In the Hot Zone (nonfiction)

Brian Turner, 2000 lbs. (poetry)

Karim Ben Khelifa, My Enemy, Myself (photo essay)

Conversation:

Displacement and Assimilation

Jean de Crevecoeur, from Letters from an American Farmer (nonfiction)

Anna Quindlen, Quilt of a Country (nonfiction)

Li-Young Lee, For a New Citizen of these United States (poetry)

Nola Kambanda, My New World Journey (nonfiction)

Amit Majmudar, Dothead (poetry)

Maira Kalman, from And the Pursuit of Happiness (graphic essay)

Reading Workshop – Analyzing Character and Theme

Writing Workshop – Writing a Thematic Interpretation

　
9 – (Mis)Communication

What factors lead to effective or ineffective communication between people? ● What role does culture play in effective and ineffective communication? ● How do changes in technologies affect how we communicate?

Central Text

Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac (drama)

Conversation:

Language and Power

Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (nonfiction)

Sandra Cisneros, No Speak English (fiction)

Ha Jin, Children as Enemies (fiction)

Mutabaruka, Dis Poem (poetry)

Kory Stamper, Slang for the Ages (nonfiction)

Firoozeh Dumas, Hot Dogs and Wild Geese (nonfiction)

Marjorie Agosin, English (poetry)

W.S. Merwin, Losing a Language (poetry)

Conversation:

Socially Networked

Clive Thompson, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy (nonfiction)

Sherry Turkle, from Alone Together (nonfiction)

Tim Egan, The Hoax of Digital Life (nonfiction)

Sherman Alexie, Facebook Sonnet (poetry)

Robbie Cooper, Alter Egos: Avatars and their Creators (photographs)

Alexis Madrigal, Why Facebook and Google's Concept of 'Real Names' Is Revolutionary (nonfiction)

Leonard Pitts, The anonymous back-stabbing of Internet message boards (nonfiction)

Jason Harrington, Do you Like Me? Click Yes or No (fiction)

　
Reading Workshop – Understanding Irony

Writing Workshop – Writing a Close Literary Analysis

　
10 – Utopia and Dystopia
What makes a perfect society? ● Why do utopias often become dystopias? ● How do we define "happiness"? ● In the future, will machines be a problem or a solution?

Central Text

Jamaica Kincaid, from A Small Place (nonfiction)

Conversation:

The Pursuit of Happiness

Ursula LeGuin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (fiction)

Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron (fiction)

Nikki Giovanni, Nikki-Rosa (poetry)

Jane Shore, Happy Family (poetry)

Pico Iyer, The Joy of Less (nonfiction)

Chinua Achebe, Civil Peace (fiction)

Wisława Szymborska, Utopia (poetry)

Jon Meachem, Free to Be Happy (nonfiction)

　
Conversation:

Our Robotic Future?

Isaac Asimov, Robot Dreams (fiction)

Margaret Atwood, Are Humans Necessary? (nonfiction)

Kevin Kelly, from Better than Human (nonfiction)

James Barrat, from Our Final Invention (nonfiction)

Rosa Brooks, In Defense of Killer Robots (nonfiction)

Richard Fisher Is it OK to torture or murder a robot? (nonfiction)

Arthur House, The Real Cyborgs (nonfiction)

Francis Fukuyama, Transhumanism (nonfiction)

　
Reading Workshop – Analyzing Diction and Tone

Writing Workshop – Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

Guide to Grammar and Style

Guide to Speaking and Listening

Guide to MLA Documentation Style

Glossary of Terms

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Advanced Language & Literature

First Edition 2016

Renee H. Shea; John Golden; Lance Balla

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Renee H. Shea

Renée H. Shea was professor of English and Modern Languages and Director of Freshman Composition at Bowie State University in Maryland. A College Board® faculty consultant for more than thirty years in AP® Language, Literature, and Pre-AP® English, she has been a reader and question leader for both AP® English exams. Renée served as a member of the Development Committee for AP® Language and Composition and the English Academic Advisory Committee for the College Board®, as well as the SAT® Critical Reading Test Development Committee. She is coauthor of The Language of Composition, Literature & Composition, Advanced Language & Literature, and Conversations in American Literature, as well as two volumes in the NCTE High School Literature series (on Amy Tan and Zora Neale Hurston).

John Golden

John Golden teaches at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon. He was an advisor to the College Board® 6–12 English Language Arts Development Committee. An English teacher for over twenty years, John has developed curriculum and led workshops for the College Board’s Pacesetter and SpringBoard® English programs. He is the author of Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom (NCTE, 2001) and Reading in the Reel World: Teaching Documentaries and Other Nonfiction Texts (NCTE, 2006), and the producer of Teaching Ideas: A Video Resource for AP® English (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008) and The NCTE Centennial Film: Reading the Past, Writing the Future (2010).

Lance Balla

Lance Balla is former curriculum developer and current principal at Everett High School in Washington. He was an AP® teacher for almost twenty years, and a College Board® Faculty Consultant for over ten years, as well as being a reader and table leader for the AP® Literature Exam. Lance is a member of the College Board® English Academic Advisory Committee, has been a co-author on the College Board’s Springboard® program and was a member of the SAT® Critical Reading Test Development Committee. His awards and recognitions include the White House Distinguished Teacher Award, the Teacher Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Education, the Washington State Award for Professional Excellence, and the Woodring College of Education Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Look Inside

Advanced Language & Literature

First Edition 2016

Renee H. Shea; John Golden; Lance Balla

View Demo

Find Your Rep